Planned Parenthood of North Texas caught stealing YOUR money

An investigation by the federal Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) has found that Planned Parenthood of North Texas defrauded Medicaid and the Federal Government (aka taxpayers) of $129,028 in just one 18-month period from 2007-2008. That’s an average of over $7,100 every single month for one Planned Parenthood affiliate in Texas.

In other areas of Texas, however, Planned Parenthood has honed their embezzling skills startlingly well. The abortion giant’s Houston-based Gulf Coast affiliate, for example, submitted over $30 million in fraudulent billing to the government between 2003 and 2009. In 2013, the affiliate was ordered to repay $4.3 million of the stolen tax dollars. The settlement hardly made retribution to taxpayers, however. As American Life League’s Jim Sedlack stated to Jill Stanek, if the $30 million figure is accurate, Planned Parenthood only had to furnish 15 cents on the stolen dollar.

The report on Planned Parenthood of North Texas explains that family planning services receive an “enhanced” reimbursement rate of 90%, whereas reimbursements for other medical services not deemed “family planning” are provided at a lower rate:

Federal laws and regulations authorize Federal Medicaid reimbursement to States for family planning services at an enhanced Federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) of 90 percent (90-percent rate). These services are funded through Medicaid or through demonstration projects, known as waivers, which allow States to expand Medicaid to grant eligibility to individuals who would not otherwise have been eligible or to provide services that are not typically covered. Previous Office of Inspector General reviews found that States improperly claimed reimbursement at the 90-percent rate for services that were eligible only for the regular FMAP or were ineligible for Federal reimbursement.

In some instances, the federal investigators found that Planned Parenthood of North Texas billed services at the enhanced rate that were eligible only for the regular Medicaid reimbursement, but in other cases the affiliate billed taxpayers for services that were ineligible for reimbursement at all (in some cases, services that never could have been administered at all).

Among the federal investigation’s findings was the revelation that Planned Parenthood billed taxpayers for family planning services on women who had already been sterilized. The report stoops to the most basic explanation of why this action was fraudulent: “A sterilized individual is unable to become pregnant and therefore does not need family planning services.” This was not a one-time occurrence, either: investigators identified four individualwomen in the 18 months they reviewed who had already been sterilized before Planned Parenthood of North Texas fraudulently reported providing them with “family planning” services.

In response to Planned Parenthood’s fraud in North Texas, HHS recommends that the “State agency” (don’t forget: in addition to stealing your money, Planned Parenthood is also already tax-funded to the tune of $500 million per year) repay the stolen funds to the respective programs from which they were obtained. And the government also plans to hold Planned Parenthood’s hand through “strengthened guidelines” and “revised policies” to ensure that Planned Parenthood doesn’t do that again… but Planned Parenthood shows no signs of stopping.

The actual taxpayers, on the other hand, would rather take more decisive action, stripping Planned Parenthood of tax funding altogether. During the recent budget hearings on the House floor of the Texas Legislature, for example, Representative Molly White (R-Belton) and Representative Jeff Leach (R-Plano) successfully presented amendments to rescind tax funding from abortion businesses that have snaked their way into our schools’ sex education programs. Taxpayers oppose offering groups like Planned Parenthood the opportunity to push their agenda on our vulnerable students and the free marketing to a wide potential client base provided by such access to our young people.

Tell us why you would like to remove taxpayer dollars from Planned Parenthood in the comments below.